Rosalind Miller certainly knows how to create a show-stopping cake; you’ll regularly find one of her designs gracing the pages of a magazine or showcased on a TV show. Her creativity and vision seem to know no bounds, using icing and sponge to create not just beautiful cakes but genuine works of art. My favourites are, as ever, the styles which draw upon the best of the past to create something current in the present. Nothing beats a vintage inspired wedding cake. I’m biased, of course, but it’s plainly obvious. Just look at the creations below and then you tell me… am I wrong?

Jimmy Choo must be breaking out into a cold sweat right now… The stunning shoe pictured is tasty competition 😉 Yup, it’s a cupcake. Lovingly crafted by my own hands, with a lot of artistic direction from The Hampstead Cake Company, the scrumptious little creation features chocolate sponge, icing, sugar pearls and a Cadbury’s chocolate finger. Stilletos don’t come any sweeter than this.

If it includes sponge and buttercream I’m usually a fan. I love cakes. Chocolate cakes, plain cakes, layer cakes, slab cakes… you name it, I can pretty much eat it in record time. When it comes to wedding cakes though, it’s absolutely shocking how many of them can both look and taste awful. On the one day in your life where you want everyone to ask for seconds, there’s nothing more embarrassing than serving a below average wedding cake.

Visually, I prefer a tower of stacked layer cakes. Individual cupcakes are cute, but you can get those at a bake sale. They’re just not special enough. At a wedding, I expect to see a pillar of beauty… literally. It has to be something that could rival an ancient Greek-built pillar in Zeus’ temple. I want beauty, height, glamour, detail and a moment where I am compelled to suck in my breath and say “Wow! Just look at that cake!”.

As a lover of antique and vintage styles, the retro look is more to my taste. Iced pipework, rosettes, lace strips and anything else that looks straight out of my grandmother’s era is a must. Those dames had style. And a lot of elegance. If it was good enough for them then it’s good enough for me. Now, there’s no need to go overboard; there are ‘modern vintage’ styles that you can choose from so you don’t need to go for the ceramic cake-toppers or edible paper flowers that your Nana may have selected for her big day. Your cake can have all the best of yesteryear with all today’s chic.

Check out The Abigail Bloom Cake Company in London for a selection of gorgeous wedding cakes. My favourites include the yummy looking ‘Tabitha’ below, which is classy and simple:

I also adore the ‘Camille’ cake pictured below. The flower detail is wonderful and it looks so graceful…

I’m also quite taken with this delicious looking tower:

Unfortunately, I’m not sure what the above style is called (you’ll need to contact Abigail Bloom) but it looks divine!

You’ll be pleased to discover that Abigail Bloom’s cakes are available in a range of flavours, including chocolate, vanilla, banana, carrot and red velvet. For the full list of sponge and buttercream combinations on offer, please read through their cake menu.

Hopefully, this blog will inspire you to think not of the future but of the past. Cakes with vintage chic are something we can all enjoy… at any time, in any era.

I recently tried a birthday cake from the in-store counter at Waitrose. The supermarket brand makes cakes to order, including for weddings, but never did I expect to find a lusciously moist chocolate and orange invention ready to buy from their bakery section.

Priced at £21, this sinfully delicious sponge and buttercream layer cake includes lashings of orange curd and rich chocolate buttercream under a heavenly marzipan and chocolate icing.

My birthday guests asked for seconds, so they were clearly as enamoured as I was!

For those who are new to reading my blogs, there is one thing you should know; I love vintage-looking wedding cakes. I like the regal feel they bring to the overall day. I like the intricate detail of their iced pipework. I like the fact that they are individual. Right now, you may be thinking “But my wedding cake will always be individual because it will mean something special to my partner and I”. That’s a lovely attitude… but a tad boring in my view. Of course your cake will be individual to you, but don’t you want it to look special to everyone else at your big day, too? What if all your guests think it looks as routine as the last wedding cake they saw, at someone else’s wedding?

You could be really bold and opt for a themed or crazy coloured cake. This would undoubtedly guarantee some stand out – especially if you pick a design that’s so unusual or unexpected, you’re guests are unlikely to have ever seen it before. That would certainly make the cake a focal point for your big day. It could also make it comedic event, instead of the romantic celebration you were aiming for.

So, what to do? The answer is simple: go vintage!

I came across a website for The Yummy Cake Company and was thrilled to find a wide array of wedding cake designs on offer. The clear winners are, unsurprisingly, those which take their style from yesteryear; those which look vintage…

Check out their site for more inspiration but I think you’ll be missing a trick if you opt for a modern design when you can opt for the sophisticated and chic options above.

I’m thrilled that Palmers Green Railway Station Car Park isn’t just a vehicle stop. The farmers market that used to be held there was once the largest in London but slowly, competition forced it into non-existence. But you can’t keep a good farmer down… not when there are organic eggs, meat and bread to be sold.

Now, Londoners can descend on Palmers Green Community Market, every Sunday from 10am – 2pm. There, they’ll find mouthwatering fresh produce alongside bric-a-brac, collectibles and jewellery because the market has expanded its remit to merge the Farmers Market with other coveted items, including fairtrade and ethically-sourced.

So, what are you doing this Sunday? Grab a fiver, stuff it into your pocket, then head down to Palmers Green to see all manner of delectable and collectible goodies to spend your cash on.